EYES OPEN ﹐ the hunger games.

01 ﹐ THE LUCKY ONE

CHAPTER ONE
the lucky one

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         ┊͙✧˖*°࿐ IVY BATES RESTS HER HEAD on the grass, closing her eyes and absorbing the sunshine in a drowsy state as she lays by the field of wheat. This has always been her favourite time of year, the summer heat that batters down on her and browns her pale skin ever so slightly. Ivy glances over at her best friend, Marigold, and looks at her for a moment. They're both sitting in silence — Marigold basking in the silence as she looks off in the distance at the vast mountain range of District Nine. Ivy notes how the sun seems to caress Marigold's every feature, highlighting the sharp curves of her cheeks and her soft, full lips; how the wind blows her dark curls out of her face.

Ivy blushes slightly and looks away when Marigold turns to face her, giggling upon noticing the way the blonde girl has been staring at her. "What?" she laughs.

"Nothing," Ivy shakes her head, but the wide grin on her face and rosy cheeks don't lie to Marigold. Marigold studies Ivy's features in return, then asks, "How are you feeling about today?"

Ivy is one of the few lucky people in Nine who can say that they're feeling, for the most part, alright. Ivy's family is well off compared to most in Nine, and she isn't feeling too worried for herself. Although her name is in the Reaping Bowl, the odds of her getting chosen were slim, considering she hadn't taken any tessarae. Unlike Marigold, Ivy knows. Marigold had taken out a few tessarae for her siblings, and Ivy hated the thought of it. The thought that Marigold could be chosen, sent off to die in The Hunger Games . . . Ivy prefers not to think about it.

"I'm alright," Ivy answers her. "How are you?"

"Alright, I suppose," Marigold says, smiling wryly at her best friend. "We best get going soon, we need to get ready."

"Right," Ivy says. She stays still for a second, enjoying the sunshine, before slowly getting up and rising to her feet. She and Marigold walked through the field, making their way back to their homes in the town. The time goes by quite quickly. When Ivy gets home, she has lunch with her parents, and gets ready for the reaping. After having a bath, Ivy slips on a white dress, that falls loosely to just below her knee, with thin straps to keep it up. It's a loose flowing dress, one that she has always liked. She twists her hair in a low bun, and slips on a pair of sandals to go along with the dress.

Ivy's parents walk with her to the open town centre, crowded with people and lined with cameras, and they chat along the way. Ivy's mom is insistent on holding her hand as they walk, but Ivy reassures her that it's unlikely that she'll be picked.

Ivy registers with the Officials once they reach the registering table, and they quickly take a blood sample to mark her as present. Ivy hugs her parents goodbye quickly, and tells them that she'll meet them after the Reaping. She turns to find Marigold, but before she can, her mother grabs her hand and says, "We love you, Ivy."